Pile driver



Feb. 11, 1958 R. N. bENTz ErAL PILE DRIVER Filed Maren 51, 1955 5sheets-sneet 1 Tcrl.

'IN VEN TORS Feb. 11, 1958.

Filed March s1, 1955 R; N. DENTZ ETAL PILE DRIVER 5 Sheets-*Sheet 2JNVENTORS:

R. N. bENTz ErAL feb. 11, 1.958

PILE DRIVER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 31,.1955

HTTOENY Feb. 11, '1958 R. DENTz ErAL PILE: DRIVER 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FuedMarch s1, 19.55

faq' 5 Feb. ll, 1958 R. N. DENTz ET AL 2,822,671

PILE DRIVER Fiied March 3l, 1955 V 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS:

PILE DRIVER Robert N. Deutz, Bergeniield, Earl S. Hoy, Hohokus, andKenneth A. Kelsea, Delawanna, N. J., assignors to Geo. M. Brewster &Son, Inc., Bogota, N. J., a corporation of New `lersey Application March31, 1955, Serial No. 498,371

3 Claims. (Cl. 61-74) This invention relates to pile drivers and, moreparticularly, to a special-purpose pile driver. The equipment hereindisclosed as embodying our invention is peculiarly adapted for use inland reclamation work. Consider, for example, an area of marshy or soggyland on which it is desired to build a roadway, or to provide a solidfoundation for a building. The ground may be so soft as to providerelatively little support for whatever is to be built thereon. It isfound, however, that, if sand can be sunk into the mud to suitabledepths, and in the form of piles, or cores which function with a sandblanket to drain moisture from the marshy earth, the spacing-apart ofthese cores being determined according to the requirement for drainageand weight support, and according to the softness and the depth of themarshy condition of the ground, then the pile driver of our inventionbecomes a very useful means for sinking such piles or cores for thestated purposes.

Our pile driver, brieliy described, comprises essentially a tower in theform of a so-called lead or guide structure. The lead has guideways forthe guidance of a hammer as it is lifted and dropped on an anvil. Theanvil is at the top of a hopper, and the latter is attached to or madeintegral with a cap of a pipe or tube to be driven into the ground. Aso-called skip, or bucket, is raised and lowered by means of a skiphoist line, and is used to pour sand into the hopper while the pipe isdriven into the ground. A dolly surrounds the pipe and rests at theground level until the pipe has been driven into the ground. Then thedolly is raised by means of a dolly hoist line to extract the pipe,leaving the sand from the pipe in the ground to form a core or pile.Then the tower or lead is moved to a different position so that theoperation can be repeated.

The tower and all of the apparatus operatively associated therewith aresupported on a windlass frame. The necessary hoist lines are trained onsheaves and on winding drums of the windlass. An oscillating armcontrols the lifting and dropping of the hammer.

An important feature of our invention is concerned with the improvedmeans which we employ for causing the hammer automatically to follow theanvil as it descends from hammer impact and inertia. Heretofore, it hasbeen necessary for the operator, using a foot-control, to pay out thehammer hoist line from the windlass drum, bit by bit, as the pile wouldsink with each hammer stroke. This extremely exhausting, nerve-rackingand inelncient operation is entirely avoided by our improved automaticcontrol.

Other novel features of our invention will be brought out in thehereinafter-stated objects and in the more detailed parts of thisspecification.

An important general object of our invention is to provide an improvedspecial-purpose pile driver having a mechanically actuated hammer, incombination with means for driving a long pipe into the ground, meansfor simultaneously lling the pipe with sand, and means Y struction ofthe tower or lead and of the hammer and anvil which will facilitateremoval of the latter members from the lead whenever necessary forrepairs or replacement.

A further object is to provide suitable means for pouring sand into thepipe concurrently with the pile driving operation.

Again, it is an object to provide improved, windlassoperated tacklemeans connected to a dolly for extracting a driven pipe or pile from theground.

The achievement of these and other objest will now be explained indetailby describing a preferred embodiment of our invention. We use thisparticular embodiment i1- lustratively, but we believe that ourcontribution to the art is of sufficiently broad scope to comprehendvarious modications of structure within the invention.

In the detailed description of our invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a more or less diagrammatic, side elevational view of a piledriver according to the present invention, showing the entire assemblyof parts, certain of which are illustrated in more detail in otherligures;

' Fig. 2 is an enlarged, side elevational view, of part of the sideillustrated in Fig. l, showing certain details of control equipment,particularly a device for oscillating the hammer; also, other devicesincluding a windlass for operating Various hoist lines;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the same details as presented inFig. 2, as seen from the right side of the latter figure;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of a preferred construction formounting sheaves at the top of the tower or lead; t

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the construction otherwiseshown in Fig. 4, substantially onthe irregular line 5-5 of the latterfigure;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of a hopperwhich serves to funnel sandor other loose material into a pipe or hollow pile;

Fig. 7 is a perspective, diagrammatic representation of sheave and cablearrangements and a dolly for extractn ing the pipe from the ground;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational, diagrammatic View of interrelatedcomponents, including the pile-head, surmounted by the hopper and theanvil, and, above all that, the hammer and the hammer hoist line; also,at the bottom, a dolly for extraction of the pipe or pile after the samehas been sunk into the ground;

Fig. 9 is an elevational, diagrammatic view of the components otherwiseappearing in Fig. 8, as seen from the right side of the latter figure;and

Fig. l0 is an enlarged side view, principally in central, vertical,cross-section, of the hammer, the anvil, the pipehead, the hopper andrelated equipment.

Referring lirst to Fig. 1, We show a preferred mounting of our piledriver on a turn-table 3 which is carried by a caterpillar 1. A windlass2 is of somewhat conventional type and embodies winding drums 10, 54 and55 (Figs. Z and 3), gears and other parts of a conventional windlassassembly, including clutch and brake machanisms. A showing of thesedetails has not been presented, since they are well known in the art andthey are not of Ithe essence of our invention. Furthermore, we haveomitted to show a power source for operating the windlass and thecaterpillar, although the need for power drive is obvious. lt will beunderstood, also, that the equipment includes essenatenrea ree. 11,reas;

tial control levers or equivalent means for hand and foot operation, butthese, being conventional, likewise are not shown, since they would addnothing to the clarity of this descriptionof our invention.

The tower or lead 5 comprises vertical guide members or ways withinwhich a hollow pile 39 anda hammer 35 are guided.y The tower issupported-in averticalposition by means of a boom 6v and a radius trarne33, both of whichvare pivotally secured to the Windlass frameZ, as bymeans of an anchor bolt 34; This means of support is also complementedby a boom hoist line 26 and by a block and tackle arrangement andrela-ted parts. Near the bolt 50 which fastens the upper end of the boom6 to the tower 5 is a block 52.for holdingva cableloopl This loopextends downwardtoanother block 53 which is" pulled downward andbackward by the boom hitch hoist line 26. Block 53 and ay pulley 8 arelinked. together and one. end of the line 26 is fastenedtofthey underVside of the connecting link. This line extends downward toblock- 9,whichis held by a. brace member-11,.the` latter being'anchoredv by ananchor-bolt 12to the windlassframe Zand also being bolted to anotherbrace member 16, as, by a bolt 19.

The. hitchhoist line 26,. after running through the block 9, extendsupwardly and through the pulley 8, thence downward past adeflectingidler pulley 36 (Fig. 2) to a drum on whiehit is wound. Drum10 isdriven by a coaxial gear which engages with ythe main windlass gear58 and is suitably adapted to be disengaged therefrom after the tower 5has been brought into its desired upright.

position. Conventional pawl or equivalent means,y not shown,` are usedto prevent unwinding of the drum' 10 except when-furtherv adjustment. ofthe boom` hoist line is needed..

On the rear endof the windlass frame is mounted a counterweight 4 tobalance the weight yof the tower as well as lthe hammer and otherforwardly-'situated components.

The mentioned brace member 16 serves as a spar for holding at its rearend a sheave 13 over which is trained a hammer hoist line 27. This lineis preferably hitched to a turn-buckle 56 (Fig. 2) and is trained undera sheave 15 and upward to and over a sheave 48 (Figs. 8 and 9) at thetop 0f the tower 5. rEhence the hammer hoist line27 is directeddownwardly toand under a-sheave 60, carried The line 27 extendsupwardlyy which has been hereinbeforereferred to as aV brace member forcarrying the sheave 13. The free end of rocker spar. 14 is arranged tobe swung4 up and. down by means ofy a pitman 18 which. interconnects thespar 14 and anV eccentric pin on the side of agear 17.. Gear 17 isdriven by a smaller gear 22,. the shaft of. which is common to a pulley23. Pulleys 23 and 24 are intercoupled'by means of a belt 21, thelat-ter beingheldQtaut by means of an adjustably positioned idlerpulleyY 25. Pulley. 24 is coaxial with respect to and driven by a gear20, one of a trainV of power transmission gearstheothers of whichV arereferenced 84, 85 and 86.

The application of power for driving the pulley` 24,.als0

the drums 54, 55 and 10, all,selectively,.involves the utilization of.conventional selectiveclutches, gears,.pay.out` brakes and operatingcontrol'levers suchfas arewellfknown in they art and need not belillustrated'ordescribedtin this` specification. Suice it to saythat-they are conventionally provided to meet all ofthe operationalrequirements'of our pile driver, enabling each controlA to` be" usedAinde; pendently of the others, sometimessingly, aswell as concurrentlywhen desired; The shaft of gear 84'is that to' which connectionV is.made to the power source;

' From the foregoing descriptiomit will'be seen that the rocker spar 14may be oscillated up and down at will, and, by doing so, the raising andlowering of the hammer dolly 59 above the hammer or ram 35 isaccomplished. This ram is suspended from the dolly in a novel mannerwhich will now be explained, particularly with reference to Figs. 8 and9. These gures are skeletonized in order to show more clearly the cablesuspension" and the sheaves for co11- trolling hammer operationYto-cause the hammer to drive the pile completelyl witha'substantiallyunvaryingstroke, despite the fact that'the dolly- 59israpidly moved up and down by the rocker spar 14'Within lixed upper andlower limits while said dolly remains at a high location near the top ofthe tower 5.

Unlike pile driving operations where numbers of piles are driven intothe ground and left in place, the pile 39 is repeatedly sunk into theground and filled with sand while the hammer 4or ram 35 forces itdownward. Then the pile is extracted, leaving asand core inthe hole;Thus, the pile itself remains a part of the operating equipment andnormally does not need to be detached from the pile driver componentswith which it is operatively associated, unless-for. repairs orreplacement.

The pile 39, as. used in our pile driver, is sometimes called a mandrel:because itdetermines the cylindrical diameter of thev hole in thefground, wherein a sand core is to beformed and left in the ground afterthe pile is extracted. Assembled with the' pile 39 are: thesecomponents, aipipe cap 40, a hopper 32 for pouring sand into the pipe orpile 39, an anvil seat 67 and an anvil38. As shown in Fig. l0, the parts40, 32 and 67 may be separately formed and welded together, or they mayoriginally bev fabricatedT as a single casting. The anvil seatl 67 isrecessed at the'- top. to receive (with suitable clearance) thelowerportion of the anvil 38. This anvil is also recessed to receive thebutt end of the hammer 35, the recess beingof larger diameter than thatof the hammer butt so asf to allow for a certain amount of mushroomingof the latter without sticking.

Sincethe anvil 38 and the anvil seat 67'it together loosely, they arepreferably joined together by means of shortpieces of cable 68.Thehammer and the anvil are also channeled. on opposite sides so as tobe guided by the lead members of the tower 5i Referring againV to Figs.Sand 9, we show therein our novell method. of suspension of the hammer35 from the oscillating; dolly;v 59. We employ a cable 63 themidportion: ofwhich is looped. over two sheaves 66 on dolly. 59fandextends-downward and under a pulley- 70,

the ylatter. being rotatively; mounted on top of the hemmen,

or; Within a recessoffthe same. Opposite ends of the suspension cable63, after being led over the sheaves 66, extend downwardly toV sheaves69 whichv areY rotatively mounted onthe framework of the tower 5 towardthe lowerI end of. the latter;l thence the cable 63 extends upwardly to.fixed4 anchorage at anchoring lugs 64'011 the anvil seat 67 above thepipe cap. and hopper. Thisfdisposition of the cable 63' enables thehammer to follow down and' repeatedly strike the pile to driveit'witliout, however, requiringl the cable 27to. be' payed out undermanualcontrol ashas been necessary in the past.

In practice wehave usedA a hammer the Weight of which isoff' theorder of7,500'- pounds and the starting point ofthe hammer head before droppingit on the anvil israboutLhigh enough to allow a 36" to 40" drop whiletheY rocker; spar 14 moves from its lowest to its highest position; Thecable;2T is adjustably l'engthened or short-- ened by the turn-buckle 56so that, when the rocker spar.

rocker spar,and.due also tothe lixedanchorageofthehammer hoist line 27at.both.ends,.thehammer strokeis also held within a xed rangeapproximately twice as great.

as that of the dolly 59. But at the same time, each driving blow appliedto the anvil 38 lowers the lower and upper limits of hammer movement,due to the fact that the cable loop between the sheaves 66 and thepulley 70 is lengthened by the same amount that the distance is reducedbetween the lugs 64 and the sheaves 69. Furthermore, this arrangementconstitutes a means causing the hammer to follow the pile down to anextent approximately corresponding to the distance of sinking of thepile in response to each hammer blow and inertia in the pile immediatelyfollowing such blows. A heavy counterweight 87 is mounted on the rockerspar 14 for at least partially balancing the weight of the hammer 35 andfor equalizing the power load as applied to the rocker spar through thepitman 18.

The operation of lling the hollow pile with sand is carried onconcurrently with that of pile driving, in order to conserve time. Weaccomplish this advantageous result by the use of a so-called skip orbucket 31 and a skip hoist line 29 which operates through suitablepulley blocks and has one end wound on a drum 55 (Fig. 3), the other endbeing attached to a pulley block 71. The skip hoist line is drawn oversheaves 72 and 73 (Fig. 5) which are mounted at the upper end of thetower 5. The loop of cable suspended from these sheaves is threadedthrough the block 71. Cable 29 runs horizontally across from sheave 73to sheave 74 and thence downward past an idler pulley 37 to the drum 55on which it is wound.

The skip 31 is attached to a hook on the block 71 by means of a bridle30 so as to be hoisted to a proper level for spilling its load of sandinto the hopper 32. It is provided with suitable gating means at thefunnel-shaped outlet and a control rope therefor, the details of whichare not shown because they are conventional. When the skip lies on theground it can be quickly loaded with sand in any suitable manner.

The skip 31 is provided with strut frames 75 rigidly attached thereto.The upper and lower extensions of these frames have rollers 76 so as tobe guided in vertical channel bars of the tower lead. The rollers on thelower extensions ride within the grooves of the channel bars. Therollers on the upper extensions ride on the outer surfaces of thesechannel bars so as to enable the skip to be dropped on its side whenreaching the ground. According to our present design of the skip, itscapacity is substantially half as great as that of the hollow pile 39.It is our practice to tip the sand-filled skip and hoist it to a levelabove the hopper 32 just as the pile driving operation is about to bestarted. The skip and the hopper are lowered together as the piledriving is continued; that is until the skip has been emptied. Then asecond load of sand in the skip is raised to the proper height above thelowered position of the hopper, to ll the pipe.

The details of construction at the top of the tower 5 are best describedwith reference to Figs. 4 and 5. The upright members of the tower areheld together at the top by means of cross-bar beams 41 and 42. Thesemembers also support brackets for journaling certain of the sheaves, andalso a superstructure which provides resiliently supported journalbearings for a sheave 48, this sheave being one which carries cable 27on which the oscillating hammer-suspension dolly 59 is hung. Saidsuperstructure comprises an assembly of U-bars 43 and 44, soyconstituted as to provide ways within the flanges of U-bars 43 forguidance of a pulley block 45, the latter being resiliently supported.It has side plates 46 in which ya sheave 43 is journaled. Block 45 isshown as resting on a heavy helical spring 47 which is of the typecommonty used in railway trucks, although, if desired, we may use othercushioning means as, for example, an assembly of discs of interleavedmetal and sheet rubber in pla-ce of the spring 47. This resilientmounting for the sheave 48 contributes toward relieving the shocks andstrains on the superstructure which would otherwise result from the-continual raising and dropping of the tached thereto, givejournal-bearing support to seven.

sheaves, of which sheaves 72, 73 and 74 carry the skip` line 29, whilesheaves 78, 79, and 81v carry the dolly hoist line 28 which is used forextraction of the pipe or pile 39. Dolly 77 is suspended by the hoistline 28 and is equipped with two sheaves 82 and 83. This dolly has aholelextending vertically through it of'suicient diameter to allow thepile to slip freely through it. Initially of a pile-driving operation,the dolly rests on the ground and the bottom end of the pile is droppedthrough the hole in the dolly. When the pile has been driven all the waydown as far as it will go, the operator controls a wind-up of the line28 on the drum 54 (Fig. 3), thus lifting the dolly 77 up under the pipecap 40, whereby a continuation of the winding operation causes the pile39 to be extracted. The course of the cable 28, as shown by Fig. 7, isfrom an anchorage eye 62 on the tower beam 42 through sheaves 82, 78,79, 83, 80 and 81, in that order, and thence to the drum 54 (Figs. 2 and3).

Referring again to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that drum 54, on whichthe dolly hoist line 28 is wound, is coaxial with respect to drum 55 onwhich the skip line 29 is wound. Winding and pay-out operations by thesedrums are independent one with respect to the other, since the powertransmission or braking action on release is through gear 57 for drum 54and through gear 58 for drum 55. .These gears mesh with one and theother of two pinions 88 which are independently driven. As statedhereinabove, we employ conventional clutching and braking devices forcontrolling all of the hoist lines independently, so that it does notappear necessary to go into these structures in this specification.

The pile 39 has suitable means at its lower end as, for example, apivoted flap or cover 90 (Fig. l), normally in its illustratedhorizontal or closed position while the pile is being driven, to excludefrom the interior of the pile any of the earthy material into which thepile is being sunk. As the pile 39 is lifted by dolly 77, the flap 90may be forced open by the weight yof the column of sand within the pile,thereby permitting the sand to rcmain in the earth while the pile 39 isremoved. If the weight of the sand column is insucient to accomplishthis, the hopper 32 and the upper end of pile 39 may be. suitably closedand compressed air introduced into the upper end of the pile to ejectthe sand downwardly therefrom.

With regard to the operation of our novel pile driver, this seems torequire no further explanation than that heretofore supplied in thisspecification. It will be understood that our invention is capable ofmodification in various ways, both as to structure and as to the methodof operation, but without departing from its spirit and scope as setforth in the following claims.

We claim:

l. In a pile-driver operating system for guiding and driving a pilevertically into the ground, an upright tower lead, a hammer dolly,dolly-actuating cable means above said dolly and coacting with said leadto suspend the dolly from the lead, near the upper endof the latter,means for approximately equally paying out and retracting said cablemeans to vertically oscillate said dolly between ixed limits, avertically reciprocable hammer between said dolly and said pile, firstsheave means on said dolly, second sheave means on said lead toward thelatters lower end, and a compensating cable, on which said hammer issuspended, connected between said hammer and said pile, toward thelatters upper end and extending about both said sheave means to causesaid hammer, apart from the reciprocation derived by the latter from thereciprocation of said dolly, to descend to approximately the same extentas the pile during the driving of the latter.

2". Thea comnation according 'coA clainr 1 said oom' pensartingrablehaving two opposite, similark portions Whichareintr-continuo1ssaidcablebeing looped alout a sheave-on said hammer at'thejuncturefofsaid twopoFtions.

said'dolly and saidhammer;

CusHing:....;-.'. Feb. 2l; 1928 Hart'err.; .Apr. V14,11931 Whinilem a nL -.l ..Sept; 45.1934. Fairchild: July 1, 1947

